YouSaid · the spoken record

Liberty

lines on the record
8
first
2018-04-19
most recent
2018-04-19
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

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  1. “I hope we can all agree that to continue the spirit ofthe Mission means we all need to find ways to invest in Liberia's youth. We need foreign investment in young entrepreneurs that will create Liberia's jobs of the future, build our domestic tax base, and support our civil society. Many people think investing in Liberia is still too risky; however, having seen Liberia lose a generation first- hand, I know that the risk of investing in Liberia is nowhere near as risky as not investing in Liberia. I thank the Council for the honour of addressing it today.”

    2018-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8239 (2018) · source

  2. “Today Jenna is employed, literate, remarried, food- secure, healthy and happy, and has all her children in school. I am here mostly to give thanks. We know that the commitments, financial and otherwise, were not easy to make when this organ unanimously adopted resolution 1503 (2003). I am also here to report that United Nations investments were not made in vain. The United Nations Mission in Liberia officially ended its functions in March, and I can say that Liberia is truly a post-conflict success story. Mission accomplished. However, I would be remiss in letting the mission end here. As we look to the future, Liberia now more than ever needs to strengthen our private sector. We have a young population that needs to be educated, employed and engaged in the democratic process.”

    2018-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8239 (2018) · source

  3. “During the war, her first husband abandoned her with a few ofher children and moved to Sierra Leone, leaving Jenna and her children as refugees in their own country. They lived in one of the camps for internally displaced persons on the outskirts of Monrovia. One day, Jenna's women's group told her that there was a factory offering jobs and that she did not need to know how to read or write. Fortunately for us, Jenna came. Although she could not fill out any paperwork, it turns out she has an incredibly rare talent - operating a sewing machine. She quickly became and still is the number one sewing machine operator in our factory. Over the past eight years, she has learned to read and write through programmes sponsored by the factory.”

    2018-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8239 (2018) · source

  4. “Women are left out of the formal economy, especially in such major industries in Liberia as mining, rubber and logging. With the help of United States impact investors, we established the first fair trade factory in Liberia and begin shipping orders for American brands and, eventually, our own brand uniform. I wish to note that the security guards at our factory are all former child soldiers who now protect the very women they used to victimize. Today, Liberia's per capita gross domestic product has almost recovered to its pre-war levels despite major setbacks from the Ebola outbreak and a drastic slide in commodity prices. However, this is not about statistics. It is about real people. I am inspired to share the story of one of our workers. Jenna came to the factory in 2010 without enough money to even afford a matching pair of slippers.”

    2018-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8239 (2018) · source

  5. “Research of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that when school uniforms are donated, attendance increases by up to 62 per cent and test scores improve. Out of every three young girls who receives a donated school uniform, two will delay their first pregnancy. We pay for the unforms through the sales of our brand, UNIFORM, which is sold predominantly here in the United States through a partnership with Bloomingdale's. Our peace is not just for kids. When I first got back to Liberia in 2009, we had a poverty rate of approximately 80 per cent and a formal unemployment rate of 80 per cent. That really drove the decision of myself and my partners to start a factory to provide formal jobs for women, particularly those who were internally displaced or vulnerable to chronic formal unemployment.”

    2018-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8239 (2018) · source

  6. “Liberia's peace is about more than just our physical safety. As for many here, as a young man in the United States, Liberia became synonymous with those photos ofyoung boys dressed in ripped army fatigues, carrying semi-automatic weapons. I therefore cannot express the feeling in my heart when, on my way to work in Monrovia on gorgeous mornings, I see children dressed head to toe in school uniforms. The only marching that our children are doing is into the classroom and onto the playground. Despite our low school enrolment rates, Liberians are more committed than ever to educating our next generation. My business, Liberty & Justice, makes and distributes free school uniforms to children who cannot afford them.”

    2018-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8239 (2018) · source

  7. “However, I am here to report that today, through the social and political organizing of civil society groups, such as Leymah Gbowee's Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, through the regional intervention of our friends in the Economic Community of West African States, with the help of bold political home-produced leaders, such as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and through the actions of this body, Liberia is truly a peaceful country once again. In January, Liberia completed its first transition from one democratically elected Government to another such Government in 71 years. Our election was not perfect, but it was a testament to the Liberian people's commitment to our stable peace. Through months of challenges and investigating irregularities, all sides remained committed to a fair election and a peaceful transition.”

    2018-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8239 (2018) · source

  8. “Mr. Liberty: Before I begin, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for inviting me to brief the Security Council today on my experience in Liberia. As a Liberian-American, it is also among the highest honours of my life to have the opportunity to address the representatives of the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the United Nations and, of course, the entire Council. My name is Chid Liberty. I am an entrepreneur. My family came to the United States when I was only five years old to seek refuge from the deteriorating political situation in Liberia. By the time I had reached my teenage years, Liberia was in the middle ofa full-blown civil war. The war in Liberia was brutal, characterized particularly by the use of child soldiers and conflict- related sexual violence.”

    2018-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8239 (2018) · source